Tempest of the Battlefield

Everyone had thought that Samantha was a workaholic; but in fact, she didn’t show any affection to anyone because she was still not over Wang Tong yet. She stared out of the window at the red planet where Wang Tong was now. She hoped that when she saw him again, this nightmare would be over.

Meanwhile on Earth, the humans had just finished an intense battle against the immortals. Bodies of dead Zergs covered the ground like a carpet, among which, a few humans dressed in Confederation uniform could be spotted.

Patroclus hovered in the air while wearing a suit of silver armor. He looked down his lance; in front of him stood Einherjar Li Zhedao.

Li Zhedao had tried all he could to avoid this fight. But, it turned out that he could not avoid the inevitable.

The fight had just started, but Li Zhedao was already injured in many places. However, he regarded the immortals with an unflinching stare. In these five years, the ranks of immortals had swelled. They used to be mainly commanders hiding behind a think line of Zergs. But now, they charged at the front like any other warrior. Many of these immortals would never make the cut before Patroclus relaxed the requirement of becoming an immortal. Those who got added to the immortals rank without the actual qualification were called partial immortals.

What Li Zhidao was worried about the most had happened: people had started to accept the immortals and join them.

Patroclus smiled thinly, “I have let Li Shiming escape, so you should be able to fight me without any concerns.”

Li Zhidao knew better than anyone that this would be his last fight. He had been very careful and prudent while leading the soldiers of House Li, but he still let Patroclus catch a whiff of him. No one had expected Patroclus to show up on Earth, as all reports seemed to have indicated that he was still living on moon. After three days of intense fighting, most of the soldiers had already pulled back from the battlefield. That was when they got encircled by a group of immortals seemingly coming from nowhere.

Li Shiming had led the main force to breach the encirclement while Li Zhedao was with a small group of his most loyal soldiers to slow down the immortals’ chase. As a commander, he should have saved his life first, since he was an Einherjar, and his life meant much more than that of Li Shiming. However, as a father, he could not send his son to die for him.

He stood before Patroclus and studied his face intensively. The young man’s seemingly warm smile confused him. He remembered the first time he met Patroclus when he was only an innocent toddler. Li Zhedao had lived through many events, but the thought of what Patroclus had become pricked his heart like a thousand needles.

As an Einherjar, Li Zhedao could see many things that others couldn’t. Therefore, he was able to see why Patroclus had made the decision to join the Zergs. However, anyone who had a good conscience would not have chosen Patroclus’ option even if it were the only way.

Nevertheless, he was still perplexed as to why Patroclus would spare his son’s life while he could have killed Li Shiming with ease. As a matter of fact, no one in this world had really understood Patroclus.

“Come at me, all of you.”

“Haha, you think too little of me. This fight will be one on one…and please don’t do what you have done last time.” Patroclus took off his cloak. The last time the two fought was five years ago, and rumors had it that Li Zhedao fled the battlefield after only a few exchanges of blows.

The immortals behind Patroclus were watchful of Li Zhedao’s smallest actions. They would carry out the divine lord’s order to the letter. Einherjars represented the ultimate level of power in the human world, but their power was insignificant compared to the divine lord. They had witnessed not only Li Zhedao’s defeat when the two fought last time, but also the human Einherjar fleeing the battlefield. They had him cornered this time, so he wouldn’t be able to run away.

Patroclus was the most potent warrior that Li Zhedao had ever encountered. House Li and House Dower had been competitors for centuries, but even now, Li Zhedao did not know who the winner was.

Was it House Dower? It would if Patroclus could still be considered a Dower.

“Why do you look so melancholic? Life is an endless cycle…It’s meaningless. It is the process that is important to us.” Patroclus laughed as he pointed the silver lance at Li Zhedao.

“Maybe I am getting too old.” Li Zhedao lifted his blade slowly as he locked his eyes with Patroclus’. Suddenly, the air was thick with the two warriors’ soul energy, suffocating anyone who stood too close.

The immortals took a few steps back. This was going to be the fight of a century.

Although Patroclus was an immortal through and through, the battle with his father had deeply scarred him. After all, that was his father he had killed. Some immortals thought that it was a necessary evil for Patroclus to cut the ties with his past, but was it really that simple to erase a father from the son’s mind completely?

After the battle, even Patroclus was shocked by his own actions. It was true what they said about Hose Dower: they were the sanest lunatics in the world.

The last time he had encountered Li Zhedao, the two had exchanged hundreds of blows; in the end, Li Zhedao had decided to retreat for strategic considerations. Einherjar Li knew the importance of his survival, and what his death would mean to the rest of the human soldiers.

However, there and then, it was time to find an end to their unfinished businesses. Li Zhedao conceded that as long as he could defeat Patroclus, the rest of the immortals would crumble immediately. Humanity’s situation had become so dire that Li Zhedao knew he could no longer wait. He needed to strike out now before it was too late.

Li Zhedao twisted the blade, curving it and causing the tip to whiplash. A blade aura tumbled out from the slight curves and its tip, shooting straight at Patroclus.

Patroclus’ block was almost lazy. The blade aura hit the silvery lance and shivered into insubstantial ripples of energy. The army of immortals took another long step back; even those seemingly insignificant ripples could kill them in an instant.

Li Zhedao’s attack seemed ordinary, but it was impossible to evade. Patroclus knew that, and therefore, he had chosen to block it instead.

Li Zhedao gasped as he had gauged the power of Patroclus from that one single block. It had surged a lot ever since they last met; his transformation clearly had a lot to do with the sudden surge. No wonder he was able to kill his Einherjar father; his last block had said it all.

At Li Zhedao’s level, every slightest move of his muscle had a purpose, and not a single sol of soul energy was wasted.

As the hook of Patroclus’ gaze caught his opponent, he cranked up soul energy and sent a shockwave out of his sea of consciousness. His lance turned into a smear of silvery light as it plunged at Li Zhedao. Meanwhile, the Einherjar greeted the lance with his blade using the most ordinary move one could think of.

When the blade and the lance collided, a shockwave erupted from the impact, and both of the fighters disappeared into thin air. Half a heartbeat later, explosions came down from the sky. The earth trembled as it was bombarded by belligerent soul energy pulses one after another.

The Einherjar not only possessed an incredible power in them, but were also able to draw power from nature. At Li Zhedao’s level, tapping into the natural energy had already become his instinct, and so did Patroclus.

Patroclus’ perfect body meant that he wouldn’t have to worry about any of the rouge energy that was present in nature.

That being said, Patroclus’ body also had its shortcomings in the most unexpected places. However, the divine lord was able to either hide them or overcome them using his brain.

The immortals cheered for their divine lord; it was apparent that Patroclus had the upper hand from the outset.

Despite the belligerent attacks carried out in perfect moves, Li Zhedao was able to resolve each threat with a great degree of aplomb and grace. He might not have the initiative of the battle, but the flow of the combat was well under his control. Every strike from the divine lance carried so much energy that it threatened to shred him into pieces, but was easily resolved by his skillful moves. So far, Patroclus was not able to land a single solid blow on his opponent.

Li Zhedao was not only the patriarch of House Li, but also of the remaining human race on the earth. Even during the heydays of House Dower, it was not able to bring down house Li due to the legacy of general Li Feng. And when humans had to live in these reduced circumstances, House Li had become the beacon of hope more so than ever.

When it came down to battle experience, Patroclus was behind the veteran Einherjar by a long chalk.

That being said, the lack of experience did not amount to Patroclus being weak. It was quite the contrary, as every strike the divine lord delivered would be able to kill the old Einherjar in an instant.

As Patroclus doubled down on his attack, he pushed Li Zhedao closer to the verge of being subdued. The immortals cheered in elation; the thought of Li Zhedao’s death filled their hearts with joy. The old Einherjar’s death would be a devastating blow to the humans’ morale. Who would be able to carry on his banner and rally the resistance force?

Lie Jintian? No, he was the weakest of all Einherjars.

Even the most powerful Einherjar was overwhelmed by Patroclus’s attacks, much less Lie Jintian.

Despite the immortals’ conviction that the battle was about to end, Li Zhedao held his ground firmly and didn’t show any sign of faltering.

Patroclus’ lips twisted into a satisfied smile; it had been a while since anyone could counter his attacks. As much as he genuinely enjoyed the moment, he wondered why Li Zhedao was still holding back his power.

Was he waiting for his slip up? Didn’t he know that an immortal never slipped up? Or was he waiting for Patroclus’s coup de grace?

Sunlight ran down from the cold edge of the lance, which shone even brighter than the sun itself. Standing inside the flow of the lance, Patroclus looked sublime.